How the Arizona Daily Star created a solutions beat to build reader engagement and better serve its community

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Here’s an idea to steal and adapt: Flip the narrative and add solutions-oriented reporting to your coverage, rather than solely focusing on problems in your community. The solutions journalism beat can include stories about people, programs and processes working to fill gaps in equity, break down barriers and make your region a better place.

Q: What problem were you trying to solve, and why was solving the problem strategically important for your organization?

A: As the Star’s newsroom shrunk over the last decade, we chose to prioritize investigative and watchdog reporting, and to preserve resources attached to those things. But when someone raised his hand while Jill was speaking at a local retirement community and asked, “Why do you people hate Tucson?” she realized that our coverage was skewing too negatively in many people’s eyes.

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